Page 15 of Silk Shadow

“You’ve done that before.” She shot him a slanting look. He didn’t react.

"Dexterous too," winked Emily, walking past.

They moved on to a restaurant where they sat outside and ordered shellfish and a bottle of wine. To be fair, Viper stood several meters away giving them some space while they ate, but he was constantly on guard. She could tell by the way he kept looking up and down the street. He'd removed his sunglasses now that the sun had set, but he still didn't look at her. Not once.

What the hell did she have to do to get his attention, and why the hell did she care?

They passed a popular bar with loud music and a crowd spilling out onto the sidewalk. Everyone was laughing and drinking and dancing to the beats, created by a DJ inside the bar.

"Let's have a dance," Emily said, pulling Izzy inside. Viper shouldered his way in after them.

"This is not the safest place for you to be, Miss Beaumont," he shouted, raising his voice to be heard over the noise. “I can’t protect you in a place like this.”

“I like it here,” she retorted, fed up with being scared, fed up with not getting a reaction out of him, and needing to let her hair down. The revelers were shoulder to shoulder, some lounging, some gyrating, everybody having a good time.

"Let's dance." Emily pulled her onto the dance floor. “Come on, Viper. Have some fun.” He scowled after them, but didn’t move, preferring to stay by the bar where he could watch her from afar. With his six-foot-something height, he looked over most people’s heads.

It took all of five minutes before Izzy and Emily were besieged by man wanting to join them. Izzy ignored them, absorbing the music, enjoying the sensation of letting go. One of the men shouted something inaudible in her ear. She ignored him, and glanced up at Viper, who was staring straight at her, an intense look on his face.

Now he looks at me.

She beckoned, but he didn’t budge. Didn’t move. Simply stood there, glaring at her.

Fine. Be like that.

In a moment of rebellion, she turned it up a notch, bringing out all her hottest moves. The circle of predatory men around them deepened. But every time she looked up she saw his gaze fixed on her above their heads. Unblinking. Unsmiling.

She danced on, losing herself in the music. The DJ was on fire. Lasers shot multi-colored beams across the club. Artificial smoke billowed out from vents at floor level.

One of the men grabbed her arm and pulled her against him. She wouldn't normally have minded, except he was groping her ass and grinding his pelvis against hers. She tried to push him away, but he wouldn't budge.

"You're so sexy," he murmured hotly in her ear. She could smell the alcohol on his breath, even above the smoke.

"Get off me." She pushed against his chest.

"What's the matter, sweetheart? I saw the way you were looking at me."

Bullshit.

She'd been looking at him.

She tried to wriggle free, but he gripped her harder. She sighed, used to these sorts of situations. He wasn't a threat, simply an inebriated oaf who didn't know when to quit. She'd dance some more, then slide out of his grip.

Except she didn’t get the chance. A shadow loomed behind them and before she could gasp, her dance partner went careening backwards into another group of dancers.

"The lady said get off," a voice growled.

“Hey!” The drunk guy took a step forward, saw the look on Viper’s face, and the size of him, and held up his hands. “Sorry, man. Didn’t know she was taken.”

Viper.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the club. Emily was still molded to some guy with long hair and a leather thong around his neck. They'd just gotten outside when she turned on him.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“What I’m paid to do.”

“I can look after myself. That sort of thing happens all the time.”

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